08/28/2026
I put up a big sheet of paper and invited you all to add suggestions for our summer vocab series. I ran out of weeks in the summer to cover everything, but I’m holding on to your ideas and think the Holy Spirit will help me get to them when the time is right.
One of you put “ministry” as a potential vocab word and since Michelle Dibblee is being ordained a deacon this month, I thought this is a good time to at least start this conversation. What is ministry?
The glossary on Episcopalchurch.org begins its entry on Ministry with this linguistic background:
From the Latin mini, “lesser.” The term has the same form as the Latin magister, from magis, “greater,” meaning “master” or “teacher.” Ministry appears in the Vulgate translation of Mt 20:26, “He who would be great [Latin, maior] among you, let him be your minister,” translating the underlying Greek diakonos, “servant,” as “minister.” Thus, ministry entered the Christian vocabulary referring to the Christian vocation to serve.
I worry you all don’t think of yourself as ministers and that you think ministry is something that only people who wear weird collars around their necks or get paid by the church or know the Bible by heart do. OR that if you do engage in ministry, only church stuff counts as ministry. Not your work, be it the stuff in your job description or the things you do to just help things run smoother for your colleagues; not your volunteer work with the condo cooperative or the neighborhood swim team; not giving your friend a ride home from their colonoscopy, or helping your neighbor deal with a big limb that fell during a storm. But to me, all that’s ministry; you are offering yourself as a servant to your community. Even caring for a family member—young or old, sweet or salty—that counts as ministry too.
In the back of the prayerbook, there is a whole section called “The Ministry” and it says the ministry of the laity, all non ordained folks, is to “represent Christ and his Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be; and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take their place in the life, worship, and governance of the Church.”
Wherever you may be, bear witness to Jesus. Carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation according to the gifts you’ve been given. God has big plans for your life, and God often accomplishes those big plans in moments we would call insignificant and mundane.
On September 12th, Michelle will be ordained a deacon, and she and I both hope you’ll attend in person or watch online—but more than anything we want you to notice all the ways you offer yourself as a servant and to see that work as ministry.
-Jessica
